


You remind me of something....

by Ice_is_my_life



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Gen, Link (Legend of Zelda) Needs a Hug, Link is a Sheikah Robot, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), The Divine Beasts are his sisters, this is kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ice_is_my_life/pseuds/Ice_is_my_life
Summary: Link is a piece of Sheikah technology. The Divine Beasts are his sisters."You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
Relationships: Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link (Legend of Zelda) & Everyone
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	You remind me of something....

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Ao3 mobile doesn't let you put custom tags, so I apologize for the lack of context.

When he wakes up in the pool of cold, unforgiving water, his memories gone, with the wisps of a girl calling out to him, he wonders if he was hallucinating the creak in his joints, and the aching of his skull. 

And the calling of the girl… **Zelda** was it? 

**Zelda**. His mission. 

That’s all he should need to know. Then she tells him his name. 

Link. 

**Link**

Why does he need to know something as trivial as his name?

He pushes himself out of his pod, the electricity crackling from his skin to the fluid in the pod, little zaps that give energy like bolts of lightning back to his body.

Link takes his first breath for the first time in years, it feels like. His skin crackle-crackling, his chest creaking from strain. 

Save the princess. 

Defeat Ganon.

For **Zelda.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His first stop is Kakariko Village, and the people whisper at the glow of his eyes in the night sky. They tell him to go to Impa’s house, and he feels a sense of familiarity when he walks to the front door, stopped by her skilled, but complacent guards.

A few moments of analysis, and the guilty eyes of one of the men… (What was his name? Dorian?) are averted by the sound of a young girl tripping down the stairs.

“Oh! Ah…. Master Link! Grandmother sent me to escort you in, ah- come with me!” She bowed to him in a fluster as she spoke, and Link felt…. Vaguely uncomfortable. What’s the point of all this commotion? ` **Zelda** ` told him going to see ` **Impa** ` was part of his mission. And surely, that was the correct response?

She kept bowing to him, and he shook his head. Motioning for her to stop bowing, hoping that she would stop slowing him down, so he could return to his life properly. She gave another flustered murmur, turning away from him to lead him up the stairs as he felt the guards glare hard at his back. 

**`Paya`** , she said her name was. One more flustered bow before apologizing and scurrying up the stairs in embarrassment.

It looked like embarrassment, anyway.

The rubber like sound of an old lady’s voice cackled behind him. “So, Link. Come to see your old lady, hm? It’s good you finally showed up…. These old bones don’t have much left in them.”

Link gives a muted nod, and begins to sign-

(When did he learn how to sign?)

I.M.P.A. 

“Indeed, I am **Impa**. You’ve come to receive your quest, haven’t you?”

He shakes his head. He already knows what his quest is. 

“..... Then you have come for repairs?”

Again, another shake of the head. He’s healed fully. 

“............ Details of your mission, then. Have you gone inside the Shrine?”

Once more.

“You do not wish to return after your journey. I can see it in your eyes. Then I will tell you the story of Hyrule now, then.”

She launches into the epic tale of the defense against Ganon, 10,000 years in the past and 100 years ago. She tells about the failure of the Sheikah, the failure of the princess and her hero. The guardians, the tank-like behemoths that threatened to doom them all if it weren’t for the princess’s divine powers, and the hero’s godlike strength.

“..... You are the hero, Link. You were made to protect Hyrule.”

He knows this. 

I k n o w.

“Yes, well. It doesn’t hurt to reinforce that notion. Free the Divine Beasts, Link. Find your memories.”

“Bring Zelda back home.”

She sends him out with a bare smile on her face, his own face expressionless as he climbs the hill to the Shrine. The sound of the shrine activating resonates within him, the thrum of the elevator echoing the thrum in his core. He is meant to be here. He is the shrine.

`” **Bring her home.”`**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He first travels towards the rain. He had been fond of the rain ever since the first time it had poured over and around him, but he was certainly less fond of its slippery attributes, making it difficult to climb, and slowing down his journey.

Oh, and lightning. The lightning wasn’t kind to him, he seemed to be hit with lightning if he stood in one place for too long, whether he was holding a metal weapon or not. 

The weapons stolen from the bokoblins and moblins were difficult to wield. His problems were not in the size, nor the material of the weapons, but rather the craftsmanship. Clunky, and liable to break in seconds, he was perturbed by the weapons breaking in his hands every few hits. Holding back didn’t seem to work, so he resigned himself to carefully dodging and stealing arrows, clubs, bows, gems for money.

Accidentally shooting a deer one day resulted in him butchering the deer on instinct, and cooking it in the next horse stable over. He didn’t know why but he began dropping in herbs and fruit and salt, and the smell soon brought the children running over, and the salivating gaze of hungry merchants and travelers. 

Link took a sip of his stew thoughtfully. Tasty, if a bit bland. Familiar. He swallows down the rest of it in a second, and it settles comfortably in his stomach, his first full stomach in ages, and the sloshing is strange, but not bad. 

~~~~~~

Link’s pretty sure his greatest power is his ability to fight, to move through any number of injuries.

It was certainly distracting though, the dull thud and beep of his heart and life blood beeping louder and louder the more damage he took.

_Snap!_ His arm was broken.

_SCHINK!_ A rusty sword jabbing through his leg.

_THUD-crackle crackle-_ The sound of a massive club slamming into him, he resigned to the mild pain as he’s hit, and he rolls down a cliff, bones and skin crackle catching as he goes, catching himself seconds before he hits the ground, his arms straining as they unfurl the paraglider.

Eating always makes him feel better though, and eating seems to make knitting himself back together with the power of potions and needle and thread that much easier.

He heals so quickly too, yet burns to death too close to a fire, and freezes when it’s nighttime up a mountain. Very silly, if you ask him. So resilient, yet so sensitive to heat and cold. 

And lightning. Don’t forget lightning. Every time he’s hit with lightning it feels like half his life is shaved off. 

He wishes he was stronger. 

~~~~~~~~

Link meets interesting people along the way. Some seem vaguely familiar, like the man with a huge beetle as his backpack, who upon asking both understood sign, and was eager to show Link some old family photos, proving that Beedle indeed, was the spitting image of his ancestor 100 years ago. Beedle makes his own remarks of Link in his photos, saying how he is the spitting image of his own ancestor. Same blank face and all!

Others are more familiar, and less rude. Pikango, for one, the old Sheikah ferociously directing him to his next memory, though while appreciated, are never approached. Link mostly talks to him for the sense of brightness in his chest, talking to someone who knows him, instead of regarding him with suspicion and fear. 

He stands out among this crowd. Shirtless, androgynous, carrying weapons of an army, but with the blank gaze of one who doesn’t know much of the world. 

He hears the whispers easily, speaking of his youth, pitying him, assuming he’s the son of some merchant or stable owner, out to seek his way in the world as a monster exterminator. A profession only given to those who were foolhardy (but heroic, some whispered).

~~~~~~~~

Link’s seen Zora before on his journey. About his size, covered in scales, most with leather and metal accessories, the only thing keeping them from being completely nude, which obviously made the others blush.

Not Link. He was similar in a way, wearing torn and tattered clothing for most of his journey, deciding that food was more important than the meager protection and warmth he would be getting from the Sheikah clothing in Kakariko. The look reminds him of something from long ago though…..

(The sound of a harp strumming softly.)

(“The flow of time is always cruel... its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days...”)

He shakes his head. Focusing instead on his mission urging him to talk to this giant…. Fish. 

“Are you a Hylian?”

A nod. He is indeed, a hylian. Although the title didn’t sound quite right at this point. 

Sidon’s teeth glinted in the rain and sun and he smiled at Link as friendly as a very kind shark. “Then I will take you to Zora’s Domain! For we cannot get close to Divine Beast Vah Ruta, but you can. We need your help. She is the one causing the great storms over the area, and with your help-”

Sidon continues as Link drifts in his thoughts.

Mission. Vah Ruta. Divine Beast. Stop. Tame. Zelda. Zelda. Fight. Ganon. Calamity. Zelda.

Zelda.

Free Divine Beast Vah Ruta.

~~~~~~~~~~

The path up to Zora’s Domain was easy, the fight of the Lynel easier so, with the help of a few well timed spear jabs, and a few slow-times, allowing strikes even when it looked impossible.

He welcomed the admiration of Sidon, (Prince Sidon, he reminded him) and ignored the cruel words of the elders of Zora’s Domain. Although, it was kind of the king to allow him to continue in Zora’s Domain after the death of Mipha……

It was… unsettling, arriving at the domain of Vah Ruta. First the fight, knocking out her waterfalls, hearing her cry beneath him. It was like a cry of pain, rather than anger as Sidon seemed to think. With every sound, he winced at the jarring in his bones, the vibrations coursing through him as though it were his own heartbeat.

It was even more unsettling when the memory was unwilling slammed into him, the memory of a small, red, Zora.

Mipha. 

Beautiful and delicate, and so tiny compared to the stature of the Divine Beast she piloted. The cries of the beast were content and triumphant then, nothing compared to the pained sounds of now. 

It’s even worse when upon arrival, there are puzzles to solve. So many puzzles, using the water from Ruta herself as a key to the puzzles. 

He eventually cleans all the terminals, slowly and methodically, fearing for his life far less than out in the wilds of Hyrule, where monsters roamed freely. Only a few malice eyeballs filled him with hate before they were immediately slain. 

The most terrifying beast of all was Waterblight Ganon, the twisted remnant of the malice infection Vah Ruta.

(His sister)

He needed to fight for her. For Vah Ruta. For Mipha, and to save the Zoras and the Hylians from destruction. 

For Zelda.

The fight seems endless, trident after trident after trident of energy coming at him like lasers from a guardian’s eye, then the horrifying look of the monstrosity hanging from the ceiling, forcing him to shoot it down with shock arrows.

What a disgusting parasite.

And then, it is over. He meets Mipha. He feels her embrace, her cool comforting water surrounding him in the oppressive cold of the Divine Beast. He feels her healing, her touch as he receives a heart piece from Ruta herself. 

Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hateno is the next place he continues on to. The little girl examines him far closer than Impa or Pikango or Beedle ever did. It’s uncomfortable. She mutters about craftsmanship and connection and he jumps back when she starts prodding at his abdomen.

“You’re an excellent piece of work, y’know. But even masterpieces need to put a shirt on!” And then she steals one of Symin’s shirts and shoves it over his head as best as she can, with her lack of stature.

She and Symin proceed to explain the Sheikah slate, more in depth than anyone else ever had. He likes it, but he already understands the Sheikah slate. Time, error, trial, and the fact he seems to use it so fluidly seem to be helping him out. 

He continues on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next was a quick stop at a stable. Hoping in this case, to get enough food to get him up Death Mountain, or if he was lucky, he could perhaps buy a heat proof potion from a merchant. 

He talked to many at the stable. No such luck, until he returned to a woman outside. His eyes bulged. 

50 rupees??? For a single elixr??? He almost leaves right then and there, praying Mipha and his food would be enough to get him up the mountain. He’s stopped by her second offer. 80 rupees…… for three. 

Better. He takes the elixirs, the woman’s greedy eyes looking at him as he heads up the mountain.

Little of it is a problem, although all of it is tedious. Rock Octrocks attacked him from all sides, and after a careful poke at the lava, he decided it was best not to touch the dangerous orange-yellow hot liquid.

The Gorons were friendly, though. Very kind, and willing to direct him up the mountain, to Goron City. He frowned at having to shell out another 300 rupees for the armor, but it was certainly worth it, traveling over the lava lake where Yunobo was trapped.

He felt bad for the young Goron. Willing to brave the guardians and the rumbles of Death Mountain, willing to use himself as a cannonball against the might of a Divine Beast, the beast of fire and heat and lava, who could easily eat him for breakfast. 

Yunobo admitted he knew sign, almost shamefully. The young Goron was so shy that he taught himself Hylian and Goron sign to communicate, so he didn’t have to speak as constant as he does now, as a young child. 

It was admirable, when Yunobo was even willing to follow him into the maw of the beast. But he wasn’t allowed to follow Link as he rode an updraft into the belly of Vah Rudania.

It was less strange this time, meeting Daruk. They were kind, and loud, and boisterous, and quite possibly the most exciting person Link had met so far.

He couldn’t believe such strength was defeated by a parasite.

Daruk’s protection is welcome, and it feels warm and solid, a shell protecting against the worst of the wilds and the world. 

It’s even more welcome though, hearing the triumphant cry of Rudania, the spirit of her pilot at her side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kilton is strange. Too strange. Leering at Link, it’s impossible to tell what he once was. Maybe a hylian, maybe a zora, maybe a rito, or even maybe a gerudo or a bokoblin. It’s impossible to tell, and Link doesn’t want to know.

All of his senses are blaring at him to leave, so he does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at Rito Village is a welcome relief from the heat of Death Mountain, and he finds the village much more charming then the grandeur of Zora’s Domain, and as much as he loves Goron City, it is simply too hot to bear.

He meets the village elder, and he privately disagrees with the elder. No, he isn’t a descendant of the hero.

He is the hero. He is the hero who will save them all, and he must accept that.

Link meets Teba, an honorable young Rito, who tells Link of his experience trying to get Vah Medoh down from the sky, and Harth’s injuries in the process.

He, for once, doesn’t understand sign. But Link gets the message across anyway. 

Flying with Teba was a completely different experience, an experience overpowering the awe of paragliding. Teba was fast and strong, and he could cut through the sky like a hot butter through a knife. The wind in his face was welcome, and he aimed with precision, and now experience at the cannons on Medoh.

Teba was hurt by a cannon, and Link worried as the bird drifted.

Revali was…. Unpleasant. He almost always sassed Link, even in the friendliest of circumstances. After a few minutes though, Link understood that it was good teasing. The kind you do with friends, similar to watching the kids in the villages egg each other on. 

It was sad to know he would never experience it on his own.

For once, Link could understand the troubles Revali had with this blight. It was fast, it could fly, it was mechanical, and most of all, it was fast. Even with the help of the gusts of air from Medoh, he barely made it out alive. 

Revali almost threw his power at Link haughtily, and Link jumped for it, relishing the power of flight in his hands. 

And Vah Medoh cried out in joy, once again the rightful protector of Rito Village. 

Link thanked her.

~~~~~~~~~

He had seen Kass everywhere, at this point. By the stables, by the rock formations, and now in Rito Village. They greeted each other casually.

Link always made a point to listen to his songs, as they spoke of the old times, the times of great sorrow and loss, but of the beautiful places they sang of before the locations were lost to time. 

His favorite was the story Impa told, in song form. The rising notes of the song fit the story, as did the low notes of the accordion, the wheezes sounding like the breaths of people on the air. 

Songs are nice, he decided.

~~~~~~

Gerudo Town was scary. Everyone was a warrior, and all were strong. Thankful for the Gerudo clothing he wore, he strode among the women and wondered at his sense of belonging. 

Riju was kind. Patricia was kind. But the other sand seals…..

Not kind at all. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking when he decided to use a sand seal to make it to the outpost to meet Riju

Link marveled at the power of the Thunder Helm, watching it gain power and grow an aura so big, it could contain a small building. And he marveled more at the young chieftainess who wielded its power. 

This was by far the worst entry into a divine beast. Unlike the others who were scared or defensive, Vah Nabooris was angry. She fought against the malice with every breath, and the malice mockingly let her anger charge the very air around her with lightning, striking at Link and at Riju, and he was more thankful than ever for her protection.

Urbosa was possibly the best champion he had met so far. She was strong, stronger in spirit, in mind, in body, then most of the other champions. She was smooth, cunning, and by far the most experienced as a leader and as a warrior. 

Link feared the blight who had conquered such a mighty warrior.

And right he was to fear. This fight was even harder, every strike of lightning causing his weapons to go flying as his body convulsed, every attack too fast for him to defend against, much less counterattack. Mipha healed him desperately, her touches going unfelt against the onslaught of metal raining down from the ceiling at the will of the blight, until finally, it was at its final stage. He could feel the blight resisting, feeling it’s lifeblood drain as Link fought back.

He thought with it’s tiredness, it would finally slow…. But it didn’t. It grew faster, more erratic, more aggressive, and he fought, and fought, and fought, for ages it felt like, for longer then he had been in that coma, until, with a last ditch effort to save himself, he dodged at just the right moment- just long enough to whale against the thing’s shield and body, until finally, it was defeated, and Link collapsed to the ground.

He feels a hand over his forehead, that pats him gently.

“Rest, hero. Vah Nabooris and I thank you.”

Link shudders as Urbosa’s power sinks into him, crackling like the electricity native to the beast and Urbosa herself.

He falls to his knees and weeps, as he finishes his final divine beast.

His final sister, finally freed from the touch of malice. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Deku tree welcomes Link like an old friend, and this is someone Link remembers from his life before. He was young, but he can still remember the little sprout that welcomed him to the forest, not much bigger than the koroks that inhabit his woods. 

He urges Link to take the Master Sword, and he does. He feels the divine power coursing through it, and him. He remembers the young spirit of the blade, her ghostly blue and purple form floating before him. As pain and soul wash through and out of him, he hears her speak, kindly, softly, and with pity. Because this is an experience she had shared with him, once upon a time.

“ _You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”_

Then it’s done. He shakes the foul (but true. So horrifyingly true.) words out of his head. He thanks the Deku tree, shaking off the deja vu, and continuing on into the maw of the beast.

Either his success, or his death.

~~~~~~~~~

The castle was disgusting, so covered with malice he could practically breathe it in huge gulps, he could even try to cut through it with his sword. The Master Sword itself hated the place, its unsteady glow rising and falling, pulsing as it sat in his hands. 

He sliced through Guardians and monsters alike, until he finally arrived at the Sanctum of Hyrule Castle. 

He slips in. Wary of the pulsing heart attached to the ceiling, the sound of the princess’s voice crying out in fear, that she couldn’t contain the calamity any longer.

And finally- it exploded. The monstrosity of Ganon, a once noble gerudo emerged from the cocoon, mashed up bits of Guardians squished into a massive centipede like thing. It was terrifying. But far easier than fighting the blights, with the cries of anguished machines distracting him as his heart panged in sorrow at their pain. 

He finished it quickly, with the backup of the divine beasts behind him, unloading ancient arrow after ancient arrow, and once he was done with that, slashing at the beast with the sword of evil’s bane. 

Link wasn’t expecting the second part, but Zelda certainly was, preparing him with a horse and a bow of light, urging him to slay the giant pig in Hyrule Field, congratulating him on his success against the calamity itself. With a final look to the pig’s eyes, he breathed.

Aimed. 

Looked at the calamity in the eye, the apocalypse that wrecked the country, the world, his princess, and his life.

And let go in a smooth motion, completing his mission, once and for all.

He meets his princess once again, her joyful voice a balm to his ears, that heard only terror and fear for months.

A robotic voice spoke to him, and his body froze, unmoving as Zelda held his face and called his name.

**`Free the Divine Beasts: Complete!`**

**`Defeat Calamity Ganon: Complete!`**

**`Your mission is now complete. Please return to "off" mode.`**

With his last echoing beeps, he hears Zelda panicking, pouring divine power into him.

"Link!"

_Thank you, Zelda. For allowing me to free my sisters._

The mournful calls of his sisters, his siblings across Hyrule echo their melancholy.

"Link! You just saved Hyrule, you cannot die on me-" a sob as she slams his chest again and again with golden power.

_Goodbye, Nabooris._

“LINK!” A screech from Zelda as her hands fall to her sides as she wails his name.

_Goodbye, Rudania. Ruta. Medoh._

“Link…..”

_I’ll see you again someday. Protect Hyrule for me….. Protect the princess…. Protect the people._

“Link, please…..”

Images of the people he had met float through his head. Pikango, Beedle, Impa, Kass, the successors, the champions, all those who kept the land living while he was charging in his port.

The spirits of the protectors past spoke to him once more, as Zelda sobbed into her hands, and he, the Sheikah guardian, the robot who was a Hylian deemed worthy of the blade of evil’s bane took a few final breaths in preparation for his inevitable sleep, and later, his awakening. 

_Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting needs not last forever. Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time… that is up to you._

FIN. 


End file.
